US Market falls on profit booking

The US stock market finished session lower on Wednesday, 08 February 2023, as some traders looked to cash in Tuesday's gains after Federal Reserve officials on Wednesday said more interest rate rises are in the cards as the U.S. central bank moves ahead with efforts to control inflation. All of the major 11 S&P500 sectors declined, with shares of communication services, information technology, and utilities sectors leading the retreat.

At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index fell 207.68 points, or 0.61%, to 33,949.01. The S&P500 index was down 46.14 points, or 1.11%, to 4,117.86. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index decreased by 203.27 points, or 1.68%, to 11,910.52.

Among individual stocks, Alphabet Inc shares sank 7.7% after its new AI chatbot Bard delivered an incorrect answer in an online advertisement.

CVS Health Corp ended up 3.5% after its $9.5 billion cash buyout offer for Oak Street Health Inc. Oak Street Health shares rose 4.6%.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Wholesale inventories in the U.S. edged slightly higher in the month of December, according to a report released by the Commerce Department. The Commerce Department said wholesale inventories inched up by 0.1% in December after climbing by 0.9% in November. A 0.9% increase in inventories of durable goods was largely offset by a 1.2% slump in inventories of non-durable goods. Meanwhile, the report said wholesale sales were virtually unchanged in December after tumbling by 1.4% in the previous month. While sales of durable goods jumped by 1.0% during the month, sales of non-durable goods decreased by 0.9%. With inventories and sales both little changed, the inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers was unchanged at 1.36 in December.

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